About SPEAR
SPEAR is a charity that relies on the extraordinary dedication, commitment and generosity of a host of individuals and organisations and is delighted that this involvement is one way in which the community in which it operates is being brought together.
SPEAR is an eight week programme for 16-24 year old unemployed young people in West London. The highly interactive course is run by experts in change management, education and youth work. It addresses the most common causes of underachievement, such as the absence of motivation, life skills, qualifications and opportunity.
The mission of SPEAR is “to ignite a ‘vision of the possible’ in unemployed young people, to build their confidence and ability to effect life-changing choices and to develop their leadership potential within their local neighbourhoods.” SPEAR was designed to address the fact that in Hammersmith and Fulham (where the course is based):
- A quarter of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance are aged under 25.
- 21% of JSA claimants have been unemployed for more than six months and almost a quarter of these have never worked at all.
- One in four children grow up in homes where no one is in full-time work.
“The single factor most likely to cause poverty in (Hammersmith & Fulham) is unemployment. (Unemployed) households are most likely to suffer other forms of exclusion and pass poverty on to their children. The key priority must be to equip local people for available jobs, and provide effective routes into training and employment.”
Since its inception in February 2004, SPEAR has established an impressive record for its ability to inspire and change the lives of young people who are otherwise in real danger of perpetuating a pattern of inter-generational unemployment.
